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bougainvillea winter storage question

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moyogijohn
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Post  Russell Coker Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:38 pm


John's post about trimming bougainvilleas that are brought inside for winter protection reminded me of something...

When I was a kid I had a great aunt (the one who first told be about bonsai) with quite a green thumb. She lived here in Mobile and I lived a couple of hours east of here in Florida. Without a greenhouse she always had beautiful bougainvilleas. Her trick was to let them dry out completely in late fall, they'd drop all of their leaves and look like pots of dead sticks. When they were smaller she'd put them in an unheated upstairs bedroom, and when they got too big to move she'd stick them in the corner of her garage and maybe put a space heater in with them on nights that were going well below freezing. So there'd they sit for 3 or 4 months until she dragged them back outside and watered them when it warmed up enough. They'd pop out in full flower without a green leaf on them, then grew like weeds the rest of the summer.

Anyway, seems like an easy way to store them in the winter AND have a spectacular flower show in the spring. Anyone ever try this?

R


Last edited by Russell Coker on Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:31 am; edited 1 time in total
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Post  drgonzo Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:52 pm

Thats a funky way of doing it, like an angel trumpet or deciduous fig, thats kinda how I did my pomegranate except without the cold. I think I would miss my Bougainvillea though, up here we need all the green we can get throughout winter.
-Jay
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Post  moyogijohn Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:39 pm

Russell that is really something to hear!! her plants were not watered all winter and lived to come back like that.. a green thumb to say the least!!!! thanks take care john

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Post  fiona Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:45 am

Curiously enough, Russell, what you describe is pretty much what I did last year and am doing again this year with mine. My fella sits in a north facing window of my spare room which we tend not to heat too often. The only exception is that I occasionally water it but probably only about once every two weeks as it is upstairs and I keep forgetting about it. It did the same leaf drop thing and looked pretty sad for most of the winter, however, it flowered profusely over the entire summer once I moved it back out. It spent June and July outdoors in a sunny south facing corner and May, August and September in the glasshouse.

I must have heard your old auntie in my subconscious, even if she was three thousand miles away and giving advice in a climate vastly different to my own. That just enhances the natural status of old aunties as awesome creatures who should always be listened to I guess.
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Post  drgonzo Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:12 am

Here I am having just read the Bougey article on Kitsune and they mention letting them dry out to the point of leaf drop and then once normal watering is restored the plant will bloom prolifically.

the ever mysterious Bougainvillea
-Jay
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Post  CraftyTanuki Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:42 am

Interesting, always wondered how people had a bougy full of flower but with no leaves, im going to practice this on a guinea pig than for real on my bonsai for next growing season. Thank you.
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Post  drgonzo Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:55 am

CraftyTanuki wrote:Interesting, always wondered how people had a bougy full of flower but with no leaves, im going to practice this on a guinea pig than for real on my bonsai for next growing season. Thank you.

I've got a nice big guinea pig that i'll do it on also! I wonder if simple defoliation without the added water stress would achieve similar results? Wheres Erik Wigert when you need him? Very Happy
-jay
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Post  Russell Coker Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:55 am

drgonzo wrote:
CraftyTanuki wrote:Interesting, always wondered how people had a bougy full of flower but with no leaves, im going to practice this on a guinea pig than for real on my bonsai for next growing season. Thank you.

I've got a nice big guinea pig that i'll do it on also! I wonder if simple defoliation without the added water stress would achieve similar results? Wheres Erik Wigert when you need him? Very Happy
-jay


You may get a smattering of flowers after defoliation, but it won't be anything like what I'm - or that article you read is - talking about. It's something about a forced dormancy that sets the trigger. Defoliation just doesn't cause the same reaction.

You're right, Fiona. She was a sharp lady!
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Post  JimLewis Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:18 am

I've been doing that unintentionally for years. I have 2 willow-leaf figs and a bougie that come in every winter. The figs come in first, and I leave the bougie out until it's been through a light frost or two. Like Fiona, I tend to forget about them once they're inside, and water infrequently at best. They're all leafless by the time it's time to put them back outside. The bougie quickly blooms and puts out leaves, and the figs grow another canopy. They've done that for at least 8 years now.
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Post  fiona Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:20 am

I didn't like to mention it before, but now he's contributed to the thread I can now say that the "old auntie" who advised me was a certain Jim Lewis. Wink
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Post  bucknbonsai Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:23 pm

letting bougs dry out to that point must kill off fine root hairs but I guess they grow them back in the spring. I observed bougs growing in pure sand in 110 degree heat in Africa once and at that point realized how drought tolerant they are. This new care method is exciting news for me as for years Ive tried lights, heat, mist etc to keep my bougs green in the basement yet they always look take up so much room and look like crap and get spider mites if the leaves are left on.
Jim, your post made it sound like you treat your willow leaf fig similarly? You let it go leafless all winter and cut back watering? How do you get it to go leafless?
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Post  JimLewis Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:34 pm

How do you get it to go leafless?

All you have to do is forget to water it.

After all, in my VERY limited experience with (willow leaf) figs, I think I've found they're rather be drier than wetter -- that thread in the Announcements section to the contrary notwithstanding.
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